Display card exhibiting device for television broadcasting



1951 R. J. ROCKWELL 2,570,594

DISPLAY CARD EXHIBITING DEVICE FOR TELEVISION BROADCASTING Filed Oct. 28, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet l IN VEN TOR.

RONALD J. ROCKWELL {I I ATT R/VEYS.

Oct. 9, 1951 R. J.'ROCKWELL 2,570,594

DISPLAY CARD EXHIBITING DEVICE FOR TELEVISION BROADCASTING Filed Oct. 28, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 T 1 66 k V I 3161) 1 32 Mm I @I I Mil Q T s INVEN TOR.

RONALD J ROCKWELL Get. 9, 1951 J, ROCKWELL 2,570,594

DISPLAY CARD EXHIBITING DEVICE FOR TELEVISION BROADCASTING Filed Oct. 28, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN V EN TOR.

RONALD J. ROCK WELL Patented Oct. 9, 1,951

UNITED STATES. PATENT orece.

DISPLAY CARD 'EXHIB ITING DEVIC F R TELEVISION"BROADCASTING Ronald: J. Rockwell,Cincinnati ohio, assignor to I Crosiey Broadcasting Corporation, Cincinnati,

0h-io,acorporation of Ohio Application Qutober 28, 1950; Serial: No. wanes (Orin-311. 'v

3 Claims, I c The present inventionrelates toa noveldevice for presenting a sequence ct display cards to be televised. The. invention. is. herein variously re-, fer-red teasv a "card dropper or card exhibiting device.

Black and white or monochrome television has now met. with widespread public,- acceptance-and. the national viewing audience is thoroughly familiar with the business cards and similar still picture" display material": appearing on receiver: screens, generally in'theinteryals between programs. Occasionally several of these-display cards are televised in sequence, and'thetransmitted images accordingly appear in sequence on the receiver screens. At other times only one card is displayed between programs. It has been found desirable to provide a suitable exhibiting device for controlling the sequence in which such cards'are displayed. The'general object of the invention is to satisfy this requirement.

For a, better understanding of. the invention, together with other and further objects. advantages, and. capabilitiesthereof, reference is made to the following description of the. accompanying drawings, in which there is illustrated a card exhibiting device in accordance with a. preferred form of the invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side view of. my novel cardzpresenting device;

Fig. .2 is a-rear view ofthe device;

Fig. 3 is a. fragmentary plan-viewshowing the step-by-step mechanism incorporated in the-device as seen by an observer looking down from a position above the device; and

Fig.- 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of the main vertical support member and cam-supporting bracket as taken along the section line l4 of Fig, 2,'looking in the direction of" the arrows.

Referring" now specifically to Fig, 1' of the drawings, the reference numerals I0, [1,12, and 13a designate advertising cards or the like, each generally rectangular in conformation and thin in section, and each having advertising or display material on the front side thereof, the front side of card l3a, for example, being designated by the reference numeral Hi. It, will be understood that the, material on the frontside' offthe card presented for view is televised by being exposed to, a. conventional televisioncamera (not shown) when theexhibition Oficard 1.3a hasv been-com plated, the card is dropped or rotated through an angleof ,Slcdegrees (counter-clockwise, Fig. 1),- so that it is placed out of viewing. position;

The dashed outline I3?) is indicative of an in-I stantaneous. position. assumed by card lid. for

lexample, when itisdropping outof viewing 110-,

sition. When card [3a is dropped out. of view ingpositionthe devicefunctions to place card .l-z'in the. positionformerly occupied. by card I30,

and, the sequence of exhibition of card l2 and I dropping of card, l2-is repeated, whereupon card;

erably generally box-like in shape; second, a, main tem. The operation of thedevice is. such that verticalsupport member IT, suitably secured to. the base. and; extending upwardly therefrom;

third, 2. pair of reinforcing struts l8 and [9 formaintaining support I! in an upright position; fourth, a worm. gear 20 which meshes with the top ed es f the cards to position, advance, and finally release them; fifth.. a ratchet or step-by-step mechanism 2!, each action of which turns the worm gear through 360 degrees (counter-clock;- wi'se as. viewed from the. rear, the threading of the worm gear being right-handed); sixth, a solenoid 22 and lever arm 23 for actuating the ratchet, mechanism; seventh. a push button switch 24, having contacts in-the supply circuitof the, solenoid forperiodically energizing the solenoid;-' eighth-,a follower member 21,. having substantially the same configuration asv the.

' cards, suitably biased to advance the cards. ste

downwardly andhcld' in that position until the switch push button is released. A lever, 23 is pivotally mounted at 28, on a suitable supporting bracket 66 secured to vertical support [1, and the:.,-lever 2.3 is mechanically connected tothe armature. 29 of solenoid 22 by a; link 61,.so that the energizing of. the solenoid and the resulting.

3 depression of armature 29 cause lever 23 to swing counter-clockwise as seen from the rear (Fig. 2). The step-by-step mechanism comprises a shaft 30, journaled in bearings provided in a U-shaped bracket 3|, which bracket is mounted on and rigidly secured at 50 (Fig. 4) to a shaft 32, journaled in bearings provided in a U'-shaped bracket 33. Bracket 33 is mounted on and rigidly secured to the vertical support member I1. Worm gear is mounted on and rigidly secured to shaft 30. The unit comprising gear 20, shaft 30, bracket 3|, and shaft 32 is made rotatable, so that gear 20 and shaft may be lifted upwardly (arrow A, Fig. 1) to permit'loading (replacement) or unloading (withdrawal) of the cards |3a, l2, H, and H). A tension' spring 34 draws an upwardly extending crank 35 on shaft 7 string 39 is secured at one end to the pulley at 5|, wound about the reduced portion of the pulley and secured at its other end to lever v23 in such a mannerthat the pulley-is'turned 3'70 degrees.counter-clockwise (reference point is at rear) when lever 23 is depressed by solenoid 22. When the solenoid is de-energized, the pulley 38 is returned 3'70 degrees clockwise to its original position by a coil spring 4| concentrically disposed on shaft 30, said spring having one end secured to bracket 3| and the other end secured to pulley 38 at 42. The return of the pulley winds up string 39 suificiently to swing lever 23 (clockwise, Fig. 2) to its original position. String 39 passes through aperture 59 in bracket 3|.

Projecting from the front side of pulley38 is a pawl 43, the function of which is to actuate a ratchet wheel 44. These parts are illustrated in Fig. 3- in the relative positions they assume before depression of lever 23. When the lever is depressed, pawl 43 turns counter-clockwise r (Fig. 2) about 10 degrees, then engages the shoulder 45 of the drop of ratchet wheel 44, then forces the ratchet 44 to rotate counter-clockwise through 360 degrees, the pulley and ratchet rotating in unison during this phase of operation. The ratchet is then held in position by a stop 46, whereupon the pulley 38 and pawl 43 are spring-returned, rotating clockwise 3'70 degrees relative to the pulley, the tip of pawl following the rising rear'surface 4! of ratchet wheel 44, until the pawl tip snaps past the shoulder 45 and finally assumes theposition illustrated in Fig. 3.

While the ratchet wheel is being turned counter-clockwise (as arm 23 is depressed), its rising surface 49 pushes forwardly (Figs. 2 and 3) a spring-biased stop 46, which finally snaps past the shoulder 50 at the end of the actuation of the ratchet to hold the ratchet in position. The ratchet position is maintained, as stated above, while the pulley 38 is spring-returned and the arm 23 is elevated. Accordingly, ratchet wheel 44 is generally circular in shape. Formed on each sideof the ratchet is a cam surface gradually rising in a clockwise direction (Fig. 2)

4 and terminating in a drop or The ratchet wheel is rigidly concentrically mounted on shaft 30.

Stop 46 projects from an upwardly extending cantilever-type spring 65, mounted on the front of bracket 3|, and the stop 48 extends through an aperture in the upstanding front leg of bracket 3|.'

Follower member 21 (Fig. 1) is urged forwardly by a plunger member 54, the front end of which is rigidly secured to the follower member at 63. Plunger 54 slidably projects through support member l1 and a bearing55 rigidly secured to member H. A coiled spring 56 has one end secured to bearing 55 at 51 and the other end secured to the rear of the plunger at 58 to urge the plunger and follower member 21 forwardly atall times so that when a card such as |3a is disengaged from the threads of worm gear 20 the card is dropped in a counter-clockwise direction (Fig. 1) out of viewing position, the turning moment of the card being about its end 60, support l6 being provided with a projection or flanged at 6| (Fig. 1) to permit gravitational forces to turn the card in that manner.

It will be understood that the plug 62 is inserted in a household power supply outlet in conventional manner, and that the push button on switch 24 is depressed to close the energizing circuit for the solenoid when the exhibition of card |2, for example, is desired.

Having fully described my invention; I claim:

1.. A device for presenting a sequence of display cards to be televised, comprising a base member providing a support for the lower edges of said cards, a projection on the base member for securing the lower margin of the displayed one of said cards, follower means for yieldably urging said cards toward the display position, a worm gear having threads in engagement with the top edges of said cards to control the position of said cards, means for rotatably mounting said worm gear relative to said support, and electrically controlled step-by-step actuating means for rotating said worm gear to disengage one card at each step from the threads of said worm gear to permit said follower member and projection cooperatively to drop the last-displayed card from viewing position.

2. A device for presenting a sequence of display cards to be televised, comprising a base member providing a support for the lower edges of said cards, a projection on the base member for securing the lower margin of the displayed one of said cards, follower means for yieldably urging said cards toward the display position, a worm gear having threads in engagement with the top edges of said cards to control the position of said cards, means including a shaft extending in a direction perpendicular to said cards'and a bearing bracket for axially rotatably mounting said worm gear relative to said support, means for swingably mounting said shaft and bearing bracket about an axis parallel to said cards to permit disengagement of said gear from said cards, a spring for normally urging said shaft and bearing bracket into such a position that said worm gear engages said top edges, and electrically controlled step-Joy step actuating (means for rotating said worm gear to disengage one card at each step from the threads of said worm gear to permit said follower member and projection cooperatively to drop the last-displayed card from viewing position. Q N

3. A device for presenting a sequence of display .8 cards to be televised, comprising a base member providing a support for the lower edges of said cards, a projection on the base member for securing the lower margin of the displayed one of said cards, follower means for yieldably urging said cards toward the display position, a worm gear having threads in engagement with the top edges of said cards to control the position of said cards, means for rotatably mounting said worm gear relative to said support, step-by-step actuating means for rotating said worm gear to disengage one card at each step from the threads of said worm gear to permit said follower member and projection cooperatively to drop the lastdisplayed card from viewing position, a solenoid for controlling said actuating means, and a manually operable electrical switch in circuit with said solenoid.

RONALD J. ROCKWELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 411,050 McKenzie et a1. Sept. 17, 1889 1,073,347 Heissig Sept. 16, 1913 2,360,662 Eddy Oct. 1'7, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 28,349 Great Britain of 1912 

